Undone by a spirited Leeds side confirming their own safety as well as Manchester United's title, Arsenal handed the Premiership on a plate to their main rivals at Highbury.

Under-strength due to injuries and suspensions and with their morale undermined by their draw at Bolton, Arsenal twice hauled themselves back into contention at Highbury by sheer force of will.

Thierry Henry equalised Harry Kewell's early opener and Dennis Bergkamp levelled once again after Ian Harte's free-kick had been deflected in.

However, while Arsenal were a constant attacking threat, they were also in constant danger of self-destructing at the back as Leeds raided with menace.

Without either Patrick Vieira or Sol Campbell to steady the ship, the rudderless side careered from one potential shipwreck to another.

Eventually, they were holed below the water line and Sir Alex Ferguson, at his grandson's birthday party, received the sweetest present of all himself with the title gift-wrapped by his rivals.

While Mark Viduka's last-gasp winner confirmed the outcome of the title race, it was invaluable to his own side as it guaranteed their own Premier-ship survival.

What should really annoy Arsene Wenger, however, is that rather than giving up the title with a bang, it disappeared with more of a whimper.

United's convincing win against Charlton 24 hours earlier had left Arsenal with the task of beating Leeds and Southampton just to take the title race to the final weekend of the season.

But with injuries aplenty, all of Wenger's efforts to rebuild his side's shattered morale following their collapse a week earlier at Bolton were undermined within just five minutes.

Arsenal were caught napping as veteran defenders Martin Keown and Oleg Luzhny showed their age as they were left trailing by Kewell.

The Australian nipped ahead of them both to control Jason Wilcox' long ball before unleashing an unstoppable volley into the far corner from 25 yards out as David Seaman was caught off-guard.

Indeed, with Vieira absent and Gilberto fading by the minute after an exhausting midweek friendly in Mexico, Arsenal desperately needed a source of inspiration.

It came, finally, from Ray Parlour, who ran at the Leeds defence before unleashing a curving 20-yard shot that Paul Robinson tipped onto the crossbar.

Henry was nevertheless on hand to head home the rebound and, with 14 minutes left until the break, that gave the worried Highbury fans the lift they desperately needed.

However, just when Arsenal looked to have hauled themselves back into contention, they gave themselves yet another mountain to climb early in the second half.

Once Ashley Cole had brought down Kewell just 20 yards out, the home side incredibly put only two men in the defensive wall to face up to Ian Harte. That was simply an invitation to the Leeds full-back to take aim and his effort glanced off Cole's forehead before beating Seaman at the far post.

Arsenal again rallied, with Pires charging into the penalty area before cutting inside Danny Mills and laying the ball back. Bergkamp was on hand to rifle the ball into the roof of the net and, with 26 minutes left, it was, thrillingly, game-on at Highbury once again.